Before a WooCommerce store takes its first order, someone has to decide how the money moves. Stripe, PayPal and Authorize.net are the three names that come up most, and the right one depends less on the headline rate than on what else you need around it. The prices below are US rates, taken from each provider’s own pricing page in November 2026.
What each one costs in the US
| Option | Rate per sale | Monthly fee | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stripe | 2.9% + 30¢ | None | Extra 1.5% on international cards and 1% for currency conversion. $15 per dispute. |
| PayPal buttons and Venmo | 3.49% + 49¢ | None | Pay Later is 4.99% plus a fixed fee. |
| PayPal card fields | 2.89% + 29¢ | None | Advanced card processing. $15 standard dispute fee. |
| Authorize.net all-in-one | 2.9% + 30¢ | $25 | Includes the merchant account, subject to eligibility. |
| Authorize.net gateway only | 10¢ + 10¢ daily batch fee | $25 | You need a separate merchant account, which charges its own card rate. |
| Razorpay (US) | 2.70% + 30¢ | None | About 1.2% extra on foreign cards. ACH is 0.5%, capped at $5. $10 per dispute. No setup fee. |
On a $100 domestic card sale, that works out to about $3.20 with Stripe, $3.98 through a PayPal button, $3.18 through PayPal’s card fields and $3.20 with the Authorize.net all-in-one plan plus its $25 monthly fee. Razorpay’s US card rate comes to $3.00. The gaps are small. What changes the picture is volume, international customers and whether you already have a merchant account.
Stripe
The WooCommerce Stripe Payment Gateway plugin is free and has more than 700,000 active installations. It supports 23 payment methods out of the box, including cards, Link, Apple Pay, Google Pay and the buy now, pay later options Klarna, Affirm and Afterpay. ACH bank debit is priced separately at 0.8%, capped at $5. The plugin needs WordPress 6.9 or newer and an SSL certificate to run in live mode, and Stripe is available to merchants in 46 countries. The main cost to watch is the surcharge on international cards if you sell abroad.
PayPal
WooCommerce PayPal Payments is also free and also has more than 700,000 installations. It covers PayPal buttons on product, cart and checkout pages, Pay Later, Venmo for US shoppers, cards through advanced card processing, and subscriptions. The button rate is higher than a card rate, but some shoppers prefer to pay with an account they already trust instead of typing card details into a new store. I would treat PayPal as a second option next to another gateway, not as the only one.
Authorize.net
The Authorize.net extension is free from Authorize.net and is listed for the United States. It handles credit cards and eCheck, saves customer payment details through Authorize.net’s Customer Information Manager, and works with WooCommerce Subscriptions. It needs PHP 8.0 or newer, WordPress 6.4, WooCommerce 7.6 and an SSL certificate. The gateway itself costs $25 a month on every plan. That makes the most sense when you already have a merchant account with a negotiated card rate, or when you want eCheck at 0.75%. The WooCommerce listing currently shows only six ratings, averaging 3 out of 5, so check how support works before you commit.
Razorpay
Razorpay is best known in India, but its official WooCommerce plugin guide lists the United States, India, Malaysia and Singapore as supported countries. The plugin is free on WordPress.org. The US pricing page lists 2.70% + 30¢ on cards, ACH Direct Debit at 0.5% capped at $5, and no setup or monthly fee. Its particular strength is customers in India: they can pay with UPI, RuPay and Netbanking, and a US business can be settled in dollars. The setup guide’s payment methods lean towards India, and the plugin’s rating on WordPress.org is modest, so test the full checkout and a refund before you rely on it.
Which one I would pick
- A new US store taking cards and wallets: Stripe first, with PayPal added as a second checkout option.
- A store that already has a merchant account: ask for its card rate, add Authorize.net’s 10¢ and $25 a month, and compare the total with Stripe before switching.
- A store selling mostly outside the US: price the international and currency fees for your actual customers, and check that your country is supported by the provider you pick.
- A store with many customers in India: add Razorpay next to Stripe or PayPal so those shoppers can pay with UPI, RuPay or Netbanking.
- A store with bank transfer customers: compare Stripe’s ACH rate with Authorize.net’s eCheck rate.
Before you go live
Run a test order in the provider’s sandbox mode, then a refund, and confirm that the order status and the emails to you and the customer are correct. Make sure the whole checkout runs over HTTPS. After launch, keep the payment plugin updated, because it handles money and the providers release changes often. My guide to what WordPress maintenance you actually need covers how I handle updates.
If you want a second opinion on a checkout setup, or help connecting a gateway properly, see my WooCommerce services or get in touch.
Rates and plugin details change, and they differ outside the US, so confirm them on the provider’s pricing page before you decide. This is general information, not financial advice. Last checked: November 2026.
